Domestic
by emiralnova
Summary: A place to put all of my domestic SoMa as well as some parts where they're not doing mission stuff. Much fluff ensues. Ratings might change in the future.
1. Confession

Confession

"Soul?"

"Mm?"

"Can I lean on you?"

Pausing his video game, he turns to appraise her with a raised eyebrow. She's leaning toward him, her ash blonde hair down for the night. She blinks expectantly and there is something in her eye that he can't read. She wants something and it may or may not cause him grief. He's already half-cringing inside.

Maka has become a confusing subject for him since he became Death Scythe a few months ago. And this happened every time something major happened in their partnership. When Crona slashed him in the chest, Maka and him clashed by arguing and caring too much (with a little guilt too). But they moved past that, and every battle then on helped cement their trust and friendship into deeper grounds. It's nice knowing that someone had your back.

When hand holding was introduced to improve resonance, he admitted that it was odd at first. He guessed he wasn't used to physical contact, which made sense because his family wasn't the touchy type. But after a while, it dawned on him how much he didn't mind holding her hand. Plus, Maka's hands were firm, reassuring, and thankfully _not sweaty_ (Wes' hands were always sweaty). And he hates to put it this way, but that conscious, initial contact, it made him feel funny.

He hates to think it's because she's a girl and he's a guy. He doesn't want to simplify his weird (possibly hormonal) feelings down to that because it's an insult to their partnership; they're already so much more than that, almost life partners in a sense. He doesn't have to worry about where he stands in her life and vice versa. Though he's a little worried about what she would think if she found out, he also knows he can't do anything about it. His life is already sealed with hers a long time ago. So he decides to keep his trap shut and refuses to pine after her. Whatever happens to them, and his heart, he'll deal with it.

Of course, it isn't like they have never touched before. Most physical contact they've done were mandatory for school, accidental grazes, and for protection. But he never really thought about touching until that resonance class and even more so after becoming Death Scythe. Maka insists on holding hands now, despite them always doing that intrinsically.

So right now, with Maka leaning towards him, with a glimmer in her eye, trying to push herself into his space, it's a little suspicious. It occurs to him that boundaries were never actually discussed between them. Heck, they have an invisible cushion barrier between them on the couch! Until now, he guesses. So he says as much to her.

Maka's cheeks pinks a little but comes out with, "Well, I think that we should, you know, get more comfortable with each other. And leaning on this bar is getting old. We don't have enough pillows."

His eye flick towards her side of the couch and it's true that the iron arm of the couch isn't that great of a pillow. They also should probably think about getting a new couch. Well, if she is making an effort, a good partner should to. He shrugs, "Yeah, I don't care. I might jostle you because of the game though," he forewarns and nods towards the TV.

"Can we do two player?"

"What? No, you suck at this game! It wouldn't be much fun," he objects, though he mostly wanted to nit-pick at her. She's actually not bad at Mario Cart.

"Well, I won't get better if I don't practice!" she gripes.

Soul rolls his eyes, already expecting that response and replies, "Fine, whatever. Lemme finish this route."

But his round ends with his lowest score possible. He usually doesn't suck this bad! He glowers accusingly at the back of her head while Maka plugs in the player two control. Once she's connected, he sets up their next game when she asks him this:

"Did you know that a lot of girls began to notice you more lately?"

"Haa?" he caws.

"You haven't, huh?" she teases knowingly.

"Since when do girls look at me? I thought I had a face that scared a Kishin to death," he grumbles, remembering the first whispers about him during new student orientation.

"I think it might have to do with you becoming a Death Scythe," she reasons, while combing through the character selection.

"Oh," he reflects. "But that's dumb, it's not like they know me."

"Maybe they want to get to know you now?" she muses. They start their round and his character pulls in front of hers. He grins at his head start.

"Sure, I was _so_ appealing to all of them until recently," he snorts, launching a banana. "I mean I guess it's cool, but not really. Shows what kind of people they are."

"Yeah, I figured. I just thought I'd let you know," she says, soaring through a glowing box and screeches when she successfully transforms into a giant bullet. "I had someone ask me today if we were still partners since your promotion."

" _Seriously_?" he say, aghast. Like he would leave her.

"Yeah," she says dully.

"Well, I don't plan on going anywhere, sorry. You're stuck with me. ...Shit, shit, _fuck_!" Soul's character couldn't make the jump and died in the river. Soul laments and slouches further into the couch.

Maka cheers as she passes through first place a minute later. Then she finally let herself lean onto him, his arm hesitates before going around her shoulders.

"I won~" she gloats.

"Whatever."

It became silent between them before Maka breaks it.

"Can you get me ice cream?" her voice all high and squeaky, eyes shifty.

"Get your own ice-cream, nerd," he says as he passes finally through the finish line. Soul sighs and leans back into the couch. The silence fills their space again.

The video of her win loops and gets boring really fast, so he turns to see if she wants to play again. But she's already looking at him so he inclines his head away a little. That unreadable look is back. He makes a face and takes a dive.

"Okay, what do you want?" he asks.

"…Ice cream?" she responds innocently.

"No, you want something else ( _Maka_ , I can tell when you want something), so spit it out already."

She pouts, a little peeved at being easily read. He gives her a moment to gather her thoughts. She does with little shimmy under his arm and he realizes then that she's nervous. She's not looking at him and her fingers tangle together, trying to come up with words. Soul puts down his controller and takes one of her hands into his.

"What's up," he says quietly. His soul reaches out and grazes the tendrils of her shaky wavelength. She seems to be… chastising herself? What's up with that?

"It's not cool," she mumbles.

"It's not cool to keep it in," he reminds her.

"It's dumb."

"I don't care, dork. Let me decide if it's cool or not," he challenges light-heartedly.

She squawks at him _("You don't get to decide that!"_ ) and he tries not to laugh. Her wavelength crackles and he quickly decides to wade it out, hoping to catch what's laying under her reluctance. Though when he nears the reason behind it, she instantly clams up. Her wavelength retreats away from his and he's left floating in empty space.

Still, he persists to wade closer, but makes it clear that he only wants to help. If she doesn't want to tell him, that's fine, but it'll eventually eat her up if she doesn't come to terms with it sooner or later.

One of her soul tendrils slaps him, though doesn't try to push him away. Give me a minute, her soul says. And so he waits. He feels her steel herself and she takes a breath to meets his eyes. Bravery is never that far away for her, he thinks.

"I wanna talk about us. But I wanna say my half first before you say anything," she says firmly.

Oh, so it's serious then. He puts on his poker face to hide his nervous jitters. _Did she find out?_

"Okay, shoot," he agrees and gives her space to talk.

"Right. Um," she starts, eyes down on her lap again. "Okay, lately I've been feeling really weird about all the girls giving you attention. At first, I wasn't sure what I was feeling and Tsubaki mentioned maybe I was jealous of all the attention you're getting."

He arches an white eyebrow.

"I know. Me, jealous? Yeah right," she says airily. "But anyway, long story short…. I eventually realized that I _was_ jealous (wait, lemme finish first!) and I've thought about this for a few weeks and I decided that it's better if you know than not know so the thing is…" She pauses.

After a few moments, he "….?" at her and gestures with his eyebrows to continue. Maka makes this noise in the back of her throat and buries her face in her hands. Still, it somehow doesn't muffle her voice when she says miserably, "I think I like you."

He blinks at her. The desert crickets outside chirp while he dumbly says, "Huh."

Maka backtracks, "I know, I know. It's terrible and most partnerships shouldn't be romantic and I've tried to keep a lid on it, but I can't, so I thought if I told you, then maybe I'll get over it sooner. And I totally get if it makes this awkward and you don't have to like me back—

"Maka—" he tries, but she's rambling and tears start form in her eyes.

"And I totally understand if you don't and I really hate that I've let this happen but I can't help it and _I don't know how to make it go away_ and I'm sorry for ruining our partnership, Soul. I'm so sorry, I just—" She hiccups and that's when he roughly pulls her into a hug.

Her eyes squeeze out tears on his shoulder. She's afraid, her soul is a spiking ball far away from his. So he did what he feels is right. He encloses his wavelength around hers, allowing her a glimpse into his heart. Seconds passes when her watery eyes open and she stops blubbering. _Is he serious?_ she asks.

"Very," he breathes, relief and wonder fills his voice. He might start crying too.

"But—"

"I don't know but I've felt it for a while, and… I like you too."

For a moment, she doesn't say anything and he panics. He pulls away from her and she is kind of crying, but there is shining hope in her eyes.

Her soul dances around his. It asks _Really? Reallyreallyreally?_

Soul feels himself nods slowly and Maka smiles a little more.

Eventually, after stupidly grinning at each other, Soul suggests, "We'll take it slow, yeah?"

Her face explodes in pink, but shyly nods and he thinks see stars when she socks him in the arm after he calls her a nerd.


	2. Family and Clothes

SoMa Week 2k17. Themes Family and Clothing. I'm late two days, but hey, it's here. Hope you enjoy!

Soul face-plants himself onto his bed and pulls the covers over his head. He sighs deeply and is super glad he can finally lay down. It's been a long day. He hears Wes chattering on with Maka in the living room about tomorrow's plans and what they're having for dinner. It alienating, even though he's been with them all day.

He thinks he's just tired and dismisses the habitual feelings of jealousy. Soul spent the day as a walking bag holder while his meister and older brother spent the whole day shopping. Well, okay Soul got a pair of cool new pants and some new headbands at Maka's insistence ("Soul steals mine all the time. I'm drawing the line right here," she said to Wes, dropping the colorful packet in her cart). He makes a face at the memory and breathes in his room's stillness before going back out to join them.

Soul hasn't seen Wes in seven years and it's a little weird. His brother towered over him when he first moved to Death City at fourteen. But now at twenty-one, they're about eye level with each other. ("Aww, I guess I can't noogie my little sharky anymore, hmm?" Wes said while mushing Soul's face between his hands). He thinks his brother laughs easier and seems happier, but it might be caused by being away from the family. Soul understands that part. Wes hadn't lost his joy of spending money and insisted upon taking Maka on a shopping spree even though they rarely wear anything else other than their uniforms. She made the mistake of catching sight of a pink and blue ombre romper in a small boutique shop. While she was enraptured, Wes swooped determinedly into the store and asked for a fitting room.

Granted after much pomp and circumstance, Maka peeked through the curtain. Soul had seen his meister shy before, but never hesitant to come out.

"You okay?" Soul asked, rising his seat.

"It's too expensive," Maka mumbled.

"Nonsense! Come on, let us see! I'm sure its adorable," Wes assured her, flapping his hands. Maka sighed, then pulled the curtains away from her.

Soul's throat was already dehydrated, but he didn't know the meaning of thirsty until that very moment. Adorable didn't cover how good Maka looked in that romper. It had flower lacing near her collarbones and hips. There's a knitted high waistband with mid-thigh shorts, putting emphasis on her toned legs. The piece was rather simple when he thought about it. But if Wes wasn't there and if it were him and Maka, Soul probably would had been on his knees worshipping those meister legs.

The next few minutes consisted of Wes cooing at Maka while griping at Soul for not buying her cuter clothes. In a flurry of movement, Wes picked out complimentary accessories like summer wedges and a sun hat. With a swipe of a card, the brothers left the happy store owners with a sparkly new Maka in tow.

Soul's thinking about how to keep Maka from returning the romper when his door opens. He realizes now that the apartment is quiet. He hears her footsteps walk over toward him. She's struggling to untie the intricate knot Wes made, huffing and pouting as she parked herself next to him.

"Soul…." She nudges him.

"Yeah, yeah," he caves, already sliding off the bed to plop down in front of her.

He's halfway untying one shoe when he looks up at her and a goofy grin forms on his face. She gives him an Are you serious? expression and he responds with a kiss to her knee and hugs her calves together to his chest. What strong legs, he purrs. She begins to gently stroke through his hair.

"Wes went to go get take-out. I insisted on going with him, but he wanted me to relax so…" she trails off.

"Sorry if he's a bit much," Soul says, sort of melting under her hands.

"No, I like him. He's so… different but still kind of like you somehow."

"Haa? How?"

"Like… okay, so I always thought that the way you clear your throat before you talk was a thing you specifically did. But it turns out, Wes does it too. Like those kind of things," she explains.

Soul clears his throat instinctually before realizing he did the thing. Maka points at him, "That! You both do that!"

"Okay, okay, so we have some of the same mannerisms. We're still different," he emphasized.

"I know," she plays with white locks. "I said different, but still the same. Do you ever listen?"

"I listen to you all the time," he counters, placing the wedges in the far corner before allowing her ministrations to continue. "I'm the best listener."

"Oh really?" she leans back on her hands. "What happened to backing me up when Wes insisted on buying me clothes?"

"Hey, I heard you. I just chose to ignore you," he responds, resting his case. She pulls at his hair not so lightly in response. "Besides, he wanted to. "

Maka sighs, "I know. It was nice of him. I've never had a shopping spree before."

The birds outside chirp as the day winds down for the night. Traffic sounds lessen and the dark moon rises in the distance. Soul is half dozing off when Maka says, "I'll let him off this once. Because he's visiting and it's my first time meeting him. But no more expensive gifts in the future!"

"I make no promises~" Wes' voice cuts through the thin walls.

"Dammit, he's back already?" she squawks.

"You're slipping, Maka," Soul says, poking at her soul perception. She tugs at his hair one last time before getting up to squabble with his brother.

Soul sighs and gets up to join them. He watches them from his doorway for a few seconds. Maka opens the pizza box while thanking Wes for the gifts and Wes being very pleased with himself.

/

Wes takes a sip from his beer and leans against the balcony railing. "Are you happy here, Soul? You don't talk much in your emails."

"Sorry. You know I'm not much of a writer," Soul admits, rubbing his neck. "But I am happy. You get used to the heat here."

"Mom wants you to come home for Christmas," Wes tells him. "Think you can do this year?"

"I don't know. I have to talk to Maka and see what she wants to do," Soul hesitates. He looks over into the kitchen and sees Maka drying the dishes.

"You can bring Maka too! Mom and Pops are curious about her. We saw you guys on the news when you guys came back from the Moon. Mom dropped her tea cup and everything."

Soul's eyes bug out, "Shit, was it her favorite one?"

"No, thank god," Wes expresses. "She actually wanted to come with me, but her schedule didn't allow her. She's on tour right now, did you know?"

"Yeah, I know," Soul says, playing with his beer bottle. "I came across it online while researching something for music."

"Right! You write your own pieces now, that's great!" Wes exclaims, patting Soul on his shoulders.

"Yeah, I have to for missions. I can make sound waves attacks and do that through music. It's a little hard to explain…" he trails off, scratching his cheek.

"Don't worry about it. As long as you're okay. ...How dangerous is it exactly?" Wes inquires, voice low.

Soul presses his lips together, "Pretty dangerous. But it's cool!" Soul gestures when Wes frowns. "Maka has my back and so does our team. Don't worry about me. I can hold my own when I'm in trouble."

Wes' expression didn't look convinced but didn't push it. He then looks over at Maka as well. "She's some girl."

"Yeah, she's amazing," Soul agrees. And had he turned over, Soul would've seen a bittersweet smile on his brother's face.

 _Soul became his own person. I'm glad,_ Wes thought to himself. He steps forward and suddenly grips Soul into a tight hug. Though surprised, it doesn't take Soul long to return his brother's hug.

"I missed you, Soul. Stay alive, okay? I'm so proud of you."

"I will. I promise I'll talk to Maka about Christmas," Soul said and grips him tighter. "I missed you too."


End file.
